June 2008 Presentation : Link here

March 2008 AST Write Up : Link TMF Post Ascent Article Archive Folder : Link to AST archive folder

Detailed Info on Italian Prospects : Link to post 2 (Explo.)

Detailed Info on Swiss Prospects : Link to post 3 (Explo.)

Detailed Info on Spanish Prospects : Link to post 4 (Prod. + Explo.)

Detailed Info on Dutch Prospects : Link to post 5 (Explo.)

Detailed Info on Hungarian Prospects : Link to post 6 (Prod + Explo.)

Detailed Info on Slovenia & Gabon Prospects : Link to post 7 (Explo.)



Web Site : http://www.ascentresources.co.uk

Email : info@ascentresources.co.uk

Sign up for email news alerts here : Click Here


Oil and Gas Guide for those who want to know more : Link to PDF file

Portfolio Update
06 February 2008

Ascent Resources plc ("Ascent" or "the Company")

Portfolio Update

Ascent Resources plc, the AIM-traded oil and gas exploration and production company, continues exploration and development work across its portfolio of
assets in six European countries. Seven wells have been drilled in the last two years and a further 10 are planned over the next two years. 2008 is expected to
see gas production from the Company's Hungarian assets and work is progressing which will also enable production from the Slovenian Petisovsci project.

Overview

Seven wells drilled 2006-2007 including the successful PEN-104 gas discovery in Hungary, which is planned to produce gas in 2008.
Portfolio continues to grow and improve in quality through rigorous management of risk and value.
European platform provides a balance of low risk and high potential with managed exposure to upside value through the mix of Development, Appraisal and Exploration projects.
Focus remains on drilling and testing to prove hydrocarbon reserves - 10 wells planned during 2008-2009.
Ready access to drilling rigs as a result of 22.5% strategic interest in Perazzoli Drilling srl ('Perazzoli').
Farm-outs in place enabling acceleration of projects - further risk reduction and provision of exploration capital from partnerships being explored prior to moving focus onto development and cash flow from production.


Ascent Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, "The Company's strategy is to operate in Europe where it can benefit from highly profitable development projects, well developed infrastructure with deregulated local market access and both political and financial stability. In line with this, our portfolio continues to improve in quality and value as the Company's technical staff work to reduce risk and calibrate the value of each asset within the portfolio. As our portfolio matures, the drilling and testing to prove hydrocarbon reserves will remain the primary objective, with development and cash flow from production a secondary focus.

"The Company has gained a competitive advantage in the countries of operation and farm-outs for the time being will be the predominant source of exploration
funds. Over the past 12 months, we have used our specialist local knowledge to acquire additional assets in Slovenia and Hungary and aim to use our minority
interest in the Italian drilling contractor Perazzoli to take advantage of the severely limited rig market in Europe."


Key Activities for 2008

The most important activities for 2008 are summarised below whilst the geoscience, engineering and administration work that ultimately generates the drilling plans continues across the portfolio.

Up to 14 million of third party funds through farm-outs have already been secured for exploration and appraisal drilling in Italy's Po Valley and for the Hermrigen appraisal well in Switzerland. The two wells planned in
2008 are both to be drilled by Perazzoli's new build 200T low environmental impact drilling rig.

Two production projects in Hungary:

The Peneszlek gas processing facilities are being manufactured and the export pipeline has been successfully tested. The PEN-104 well will be completed in March subject to rig availability and production will follow shortly after.

The Bajcsa gasfield rehabilitation project that is anticipated to produce gas in 2008 is in the final stages of permitting.

The Szolnok exploration project with Toreador in Hungary is to drill two shallow gas exploration wells and to acquire 3-D seismic, all scheduled to start in April.

Acquisition of 2-D seismic in the Frosinone Permit in Italy to better define the Anagni structure is scheduled to commence in March 2008 and plans are underway to acquire regional seismic lines to improve the understanding
of the thrust features in the south-eastern part of the permit.

Value Added During 2006-2007

Of the seven wells drilled in 2006 and 2007, the successful PEN-104 gas discovery will commence production later this year. The results of each of these wells are summarised below.

One commercial discovery:
PEN-104 in Hungary - currently being prepared for production

Two technically successful wells:
Arrone-1 in Italy encountered a sub-commercial tight gas reservoir
Anagni-1 in Italy discovered excellent quality reservoir with oil shows both in core samples and from testing operations

One suspended well:
PEN-102 in Hungary - awaiting additional seismic to determine sidetrack options

Three dry holes:
FGY-1 in Hungary - found good reservoir but no gas
VAM-1 in Hungary - encountered thin coals at the target depth
Hontomin-4 in Spain - found down-faulted reservoir below the oil water contact


Summaries of Projects in the Company's Portfolio

Development

Peneszleck Gasfield Development (Hungary - 52.5% interest)

Facilities construction is underway following the discovery of gas in the Peneszlek-104 well in November 2006. The PEN-104 well is planned for completion in March, and the facilities are to be delivered in April. Production will
commence once hook-up to the pipeline is completed and production authorisations received. In addition to the planned tie-in of the PEN-9 and PEN-12 wells, further appraisal of the area will be undertaken by the acquisition of circa 100 sq km of 3-D seismic including the area of the partially depleted Peneszlek field, which is a candidate for re-development.


Bajcsa Gasfield Redevelopment (Hungary - 45% interest)

A study of the Bajcsa field subsurface over the past six months has confirmed the presence of un-produced gas in at least two of the seven reservoirs that have been identified. Ascent's geologists and engineers have been working on the most cost effective way to access this gas and have considered several options including re-entry or workover of old wells and the drilling new wells. The project is now ready to progress and as soon as delays in the permitting have been resolved, drilling will commence. The most attractive part of the rehabilitation projects is that the production infrastructure is already in place and so production can realise immediate cash flow


Petisovsci Shallow Reservoirs (Slovenia - 45% interest)

Ascent acquired an interest in these fields in February 2007 and has been assimilating the data provided by the former operator. During the 1950s and 1960s the field underwent a trial gas and water injection programme in an
attempt to halt the decline in production. Currently, production from the field very low and the Ascent technical team is working hard on rebuilding the
subsurface model with the intent of restarting full scale production.


Petisovsci Deep Reservoirs (Slovenia - 15.75% interest)

Ascent has recognised that the existing geological model of the deep gas field is not adequate to plan for new production. During September 2007, Ascent worked over the D14 well and produced minor amounts of gas following a coiled tubing intervention on a previously untested reservoir. Ascent recognises further prospectivity and is reworking the geological model in order to effectively manage the exploitation potential. Further data acquisition is planned in the D-14 well to determine its productivity.


Appraisal

Seeland Exploration and Appraisal (Switzerland - 80% interest)

Ascent has completed the geoscience work in the area and plans to drill the Hermrigen-2 well as an appraisal to the 1982 Hermrigen-1 gas discovery. This
well tested gas from reservoirs at 2,250m but due to drilling complications it did not reach its deeper, primary target. The Hermrigen-2 well is planned as a
3,000m vertical well that will re-test the productive gas reservoir and drill the deeper target. It is planned to drill the Hermrigen-2 well in the second half of 2008, subject to the issue of a construction permit and the consent of the local community. The well will be drilled with Perazzoli's newly built, latest generation, low environmental impact 200 tonne rig.


Offshore blocks M10 and M11 (Netherlands - 27% interest)

The blocks contain an extension of the Terschelling Noord gas field and two discoveries drilled by the M11-1 and M10-1 wells. Ascents geologists and geophysicists have completed their work and Ascent engineers are now studying
the flow characteristic and economic potential of the reservoir and options to enhance the production rate. Well planning started in December last year and
Ascent is investigating the options for maximising future value in these assets including a possible farm-out.


Exploration

Frosinone Exploration (Italy - 80% interest)

Plans for the plugging and abandonment of the Anagni-1 well have now been submitted to the authorities. Whilst testing failed to realise more than significant shows of oil, importantly the analysis of the oil recovered from the well shows that the oil is similar to the oil from the Ripi oilfield located 40km to the south-east. Seismic recorded in the well to supplement the low resolution conventional surface seismic indicated that the well was drilled in a less than optimal subsurface location on the flank of the Anagni structure. New seismic acquisition is planned during March 2008 and detailed mapping will be undertaken in order to more fully assess the potential of the Anagni structure.


Cento and Bastiglia permits, Po Valley Exploration (Italy - 50% interest)

Ascent completed its technical work on the Gazzata prospect and now well planning is underway with the Gazzata-1 well expected to spud in the second half of 2008. Under the terms of the farm-out announced in November 2007, the first well is fully funded as will be a second well if the Gazzata-1 well is a commercial discovery.

Fiume Arrone exploration (Italy - 56% interest)

The Arrone-1 well, drilled in August 2007, found sub-commercial gas because the reservoir was both thin and low permeability. The presence of all the other
requirements for a commercial gas field were conclusively demonstrated by the Arrone-1 well and future plans are under discussion with the partners in this project.


Szolnok exploitation Project (Hungary - 27.5% interest, subject to farm-in)

Ascent's regional work in Hungary recognised the potential of the Szolnok block and in particular the shallow, amplitude driven plays. Two wells are to be
drilled on the Szolnok block in the first half of 2008. A 3-D seismic survey will also be acquired to de-risk several other prospects identified in the southern part of the block.


Nyirseg exploration project (Hungary - 52.5%)

It is expected that the 3-D seismic survey planned for the Peneszlek field area will also provide information on the prospectivity of the area surrounding the
previous three discoveries. There is also further gas exploration potential both in the southern and western parts of the permits where seismic reprocessing has just been completed.


Offshore block M8 (Netherlands - 27% interest)

During the evaluation of the adjoining M10 and M11 blocks, two prospects were identified on the M8 block in 2007. It is expected that the M11-1 and M10-1 discoveries will be the prime focus for this area and that the M8 prospects will provide additional upside.


Rocamundo Exploration application (Spain - 50% interest)

Ascent submitted an application for exploration acreage in northern Spain during 2007 and it is expected that a licence will be issued during 2008. This permit has previously had two deep exploration wells drilled, which encountered gas shows.


Strangolagalli Exploration (Italy - 50% interest)

Ascent's geoscientists are progressing the interpretation of the deeper structures in the concession which contains the Ripi oilfield currently producing small amounts of oil from shallow reservoirs. The regional lines that
are planned to be acquired in the neighbouring Frosinone permit will continue into the concession.


Linden Exploration and Appraisal (Switzerland - 90% interest)

The Linden-1 well was drilled by Elf Aquitane in 1972 and tested gas from a deep Triassic reservoir. An appraisal well is being considered for this Linden
discovery but will require a large drilling unit capable of reaching a depth of 5,000m.


Vaud Exploration and Appraisal (Switzerland - 90% interest)

The Vaud concession includes numerous active oil and gas seeps and the Essertines-1 well drilled in 1962 which tested oil from Jurassic reservoirs.
Although an appraisal of this discovery is a possibility, the exploration of nearby Triassic gas prospects is also under consideration.


Offshore block P4 (Netherlands - 27% interest)

The geological interpretation has identified several undrilled structures and the Company's technical experts are reviewing the future work programme for this area.

In addition to the oil and gas assets, Ascent owns a minority (22.5%) interest in the Italian drilling contractor, Perazzoli Drilling srl. This company owns
two rigs, a 40T Ballerini and a 100T Cosrsair 300 and has a 200T Drillmec HH200 on order. Drilling contractors are very busy in Italy and the company has a strong order book

The technical information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Gavin Ward, Ascent's Exploration Manager (member of the AAPG) who
has 19 years relevant experience in the oil industry.


* * ENDS * *

Got some more myself this morning, on the back of Artemis buying some as per the RNS of yesterday. Might mean the seller is now sold out, and the SP can recover.

Its waaaaay oversold IMV.

Agreed, just took out a long position on top of my share holding.

A very good write up on TMF :

http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=10980324


.

How much cash do this company have left? What is their cashburn?

A poster from AFN (Spangle93) has kindly done as estimation at a valuation for AST.

The file (Excel) is in the Ascent Archive Web Folder, for download.

http://www.esnips.com/web/AscentResources/


This is an opinion of one poster, if anyone has any comments or suggestions, please feel free to air them.
.

An interesting fact to know would be how much lets say the Po Valley drill in H2 will make for AST.

Not in the sense of gas finds, but in the sense that the drill is 100% paid for by farm in partners.

They will use the Ascent Drilling JV rig.

Therefore, of the payments made by the farm in partner, some of this will come back to AST in terms of revenues for use of the Ascent Drilling JV rig.

So not only does the Po Valley, and also likely Swiss Drill cost nothing, they actually make money out of it through the Ascent Drilling JV.



Will be interesting if anyone can get some info on what the likely revenue share is to AST for the Po Valley drill utilising the rig part owned by AST.

Any idea's ?

This is an excellent example of throwing good money after bad. I really can't see it going back up.

Yes should be re-named Descent Resources!!

I see H2 2008 as a time when this will Ascent and fast. I have copied your posts below, and come later this year I might enjoy copying and pasting them to you a few times to remind you :) LOL

Todays price is 5.75p - lets see where the price is later this year, against the posts below.

hlyeo98 - 28 Mar 2008 19:51 - 346 of 347
This is an excellent example of throwing good money after bad. I really can't see it going back up.

halifax - 28 Mar 2008 21:22 - 347 of 347
Yes should be re-named Descent Resources!!

You are most welcome...the chart says it all.

Copy of couple of posts on AFN :



PapalPower - 1 Apr'08 - 01:44 - 19231 of 19233
IMV there is only one event that will change the outlook of AST in the shorter term, and that is production from Nyirseg being on line from Hungary by end of H2 as was stated.

If this event happens and on time then sentiment will rightly change. The seller here is likely (if its not for tax reasons and we will know soon) assisting a potential buyer, as in they will depress the price down to "crazy levels" to cut off funding potential, and then their "friends" will come in with a cheap offer to buy the company.

This kind of aggresive behaviour happens a lot, and AST has some good assets, and so would be a potential target.

This is where JE and co have to be very clever, preserve their cash and get their cash producing assets on line soonest. Once into production the vultures, if that is what we have presently, will soon go away, and the SP will respond accordingly.


Hellisreal - 1 Apr'08 - 02:40 - 19232 of 19233
Very insightful post PP
Do i Don't i ?
Hold quite a few already ,da da


PapalPower - 1 Apr'08 - 02:46 - 19233 of 19233
Well, first thing to wait for is to see if the selling stops come Thursday........if yes then it was tax year end selling.

If it continues then I would suggest we have "vultures" overhead. They look for good companies who might be tight on cash........with perhaps fidgity major shareholders........they then short sell or get a major holder to sell down and crash the price, then they breeze in with an offer and try to get majority approval at a very cheap price.

Due to the crashed down SP, the company cannot raise funds without diluting the hell out of the assets, so the vultures win and buy the whole company cheap.

The only thing that will arrest this, is the company delivering on the Nyirseg production on time and to plan (which is in production by end H2). With that cash coming in, the picture changes, if you add some Bajsca success in to....the vultures will be gone before Po Valley is drilled.

So, at this present moment in time.......its a case of wait and see.

The back up is that any "hostile" bid would be above todays SP (say 10p or 12p).

The downside is that things may wobble along for some time yet until news.

Certainly some of the major shareholders will be worried that AST fails to get any production on line, and be end of 2008 are left with no cash, and then things get really stripped down and sold off for peanuts. This is what the vultures feed on, and they are successfully cutting off any funding by placing,

So, the game is afoot imv, however, should production come on line end H2 as planned things will turn, and should any of the drills strike home, then a very fast turnaround will happen.

That imo. You pay your money, you take your gamble :)

Seller might be being cleared out now ?

On Line Limits much stronger :

BUY 100K @ 5.8p

SELL 100K @ 5.7p

Kerching........prior back costs in the Ascent bank account then ?


http://www.oilvoice.com/n/Otto_Energy_Confirms_50_Farmin_Into_Po_Valley_Italy/b440e417.aspx

Otto Energy Confirms 50% Farm-in Into Po Valley, Italy

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Otto Energy provides an update on the farm-in negotiations for two permits within the Po Valley, onshore Italy, where Otto is set to acquire a 50% holding in two Bastiglia-Cento Exploration Permits from Ascent Resources Plc.

Highlights:

Otto will hold a 50% working interest in each of the two permits, subject to the terms of the agreement.
The two adjacent Bastiglia - Cento Exploration Permits are considered highly prospective and have multiple hydrocarbon prospects and leads already identified from previous seismic data.
The first well, Gazzata-1, will be drilled around September 2008, targeting prospective gas resources of over 100bscf.

Otto Energy has finalised negotiations to farm-in the full 50% option to the Bastiglia-Cento Exploration Permits in the Po Valley, Italy from Ascent Resources Plc. Otto will acquire the full 50% interest as a result of Deltana Energy choosing not to exercise their option to acquire a 15% working interest from Otto before 31 March 2008.

Ottos CEO Alex Parks said, Otto is pleased to be earning the full 50% interest in the Permits. We believe the chance of success is relatively good and thus the resulting risk, cost, and reward balance compliments our portfolio of assets. By earning the full 50% there is considerable upside for Otto to materially benefit from any discovery made and we look forward to the start of the drilling program later this year.

Back costs in the bank, as well as paying for seismic data :)

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=200712060701252957J

"The new agreement supersedes the farm-in agreement with Deltana, previously
announced on 1 August 2007. The terms remain essentially unchanged with Deltana and Otto paying a contribution towards the project back costs and the purchase of existing seismic data. Deltana and Otto will also pay 100% of the cost of the first exploration well and 100% of the cost of a second exploration well if the first well discovers commercial quantities of gas. The future value of the farm-in package amounts to circa 13 million."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Its difficult to know whether total back costs were circa 2m Euro, or the proportion of back costs to be paid by the farm in partner was 2m Euro.

Anyway, should be 2m Euro, or a portion of 2m Euro (50% = 1m Euro worst case) going into Ascents bank account soon.

AND, a charge for the purchase of the existing seismic......how much will that be ?

Otto Energy assigns an NPV of A$200,000,000 to the Gazzata area in the Po Valley, thats just Gazzata, on their 50% stake.

That is in sterling, 91 million pounds.

So of course AST also has an NPV of 91 million sterling pounds on the 50% they hold.

To put that into perspective, the Po Vally Gazzata area on its own offers an NPV of 30p a share to Ascent.

First drill there, coming Sept 2008.

Nice to see Ascent got near the high end of my estimates, with 2.15m Euro paid to them for back costs and seismic by Otto for the farm in :)

The potential NPV to Ascent is circa 30p a share.....not bad, just for Gazzata.


http://www.ottomanenergy.com/media/Moving%20forward%20in%20two%20thousand%20and%20Otto.pdf


"Moving forward in two thousand and Otto"

... What Parks described as the next big thing for Otto is drilling of Gazzata-1 in
the Bastiglia-Cento permits in the Po Valley of northern Italy where Otto farmed into a large exploration permit held by AIM listed Ascent Resources. The Po Valley is
a proven hydrocarbon basin, where more than 13 trillion cubic feet of gas and 342
million barrels of oil have been discovered to date.

To earn 50% in the permits, Otto contributed 2.15 million in January 2008
for the purchase of seismic data and reimbursed Deltana Energy for direct costs
of $400,000. Otto will pay 100% of the cost of drilling and testing the Gazzata-1 well.

In the event of a significant commercial gas discovery at Gazzata-1, Otto will also
fund 100% of the cost of drilling and testing of a second well.

We will be drilling the Gazzata-1 well in Italy in September targeting 130-200 billion
cubic feet of gas, Parks said.

In the event of a discovery, the company estimates the project is potentially worth
more than $200 million to Otto on a net present value (NPV) basis, equating to
approximately 40c per share.

There are two very similar structures in the Bastiglia-Cento permits Gazzata and
Rubiera. Gazzata is the first one that we are going to drill. There are 2D seismic lines that run north and south on Gazzata and processing and interpretation shows what looks like a common gas-water contact on each line, Parks added.

If we can demonstrate that Gazzata works, then we will have a good look at
Rubiera, which is another structure that looks very similar. Between these two
structures and the rest of the block, which is also judged to be very prospective, there could be as much as a trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in the block.

Ascent Resources PLC
07 April 2008

Ascent Resources plc ('Ascent' or 'the Company')

Hungarian operations start-up

Ascent Resources plc, the AIM-traded oil and gas exploration and production
company, announces that operations have commenced on the Szolnok exploration
permit in Central Hungary where the Company has a 27.5% interest, with the
drilling of the first of two exploration wells and the start of a 3-D seismic
survey.

Drilling of the TIK-1 well began at 17:00 on Sunday 6th April with operations
expected to last about five weeks. The well is planned to reach a depth of
2,250m and to intercept targets in the Pannonion, Miocene and pre-Miocene
formations.

The Kunszentmarton 3-D seismic acquisition programme has also begun and the
field work is expected to take seven weeks. This programme will cover 150 sq km
and as well as delineating six prospects identified from old 2-D lines, it is
expected to identify further targets.

Both in the area of, and surrounding the Szolnok exploration permit, there are a
number of producing oil and gas fields as well as new discoveries that are been
drilled in the past two years being prepared for production.

Ascent Managing Director Jeremy Eng said, 'These works, along with the on-going
preparations for the start-up of production at Ascent's PEN-104 gas discovery in
eastern Hungary, demonstrates the benefits of a portfolio approach which has the
ability to create value through the simultaneous implementation of both
exploration and development programmes.'